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March 16, 2000
Press Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217
Public Contact: Dr. Levon Avdoyan (202) 707-5680

Former Ambassador Delivers Eighth Annual Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture

Ambassador Harry J. Gilmore will deliver the eighth annual Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture, titled "Twenty-Six Months in the Reborn Armenian Republic: My Mission as the First U.S. Ambassador to Armenia," on Wednesday, April 19, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, at 7 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Ambassador Gilmore, retired Foreign Service Officer and present chair of the Caucasus Area Studies seminar at the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of State, will speak on his mission to establish the first diplomatic relations with a former Soviet and newly independent republic. He will address the challenges, triumphs and the legacy he left during his 26-month appointment, from 1993 to 1995, in Armenia.

The lecture series is sponsored by the Near East Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division. It is named after the Armenian holiday that commemorates the battle of Avarayr (451 A.D.), which was waged by the Armenian General Vardan Mamikonian and his compatriots against invading Persian troops who were attempting to reimpose Zoroastrianism on the Christian state. As a religious holiday, it celebrates the Armenians' triumph over forces of assimilation.

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PR 00-034
3/16/00
ISSN 0731-3527